


nothing more than human

by glossolala



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Hurt/Comfort, Identity Issues, M/M, Post Season 6, Sheith Month 2018, mentions of kuron, s6 was A Lot for all of us but esp these two, there are tears, they talk about it, what can i say in this house we stan gratuitous angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-02
Updated: 2018-07-02
Packaged: 2019-06-01 05:05:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,111
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15135734
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glossolala/pseuds/glossolala
Summary: The wreckage of their lives is floating around somewhere far above them, in the void of space, and there's nothing they can do to put all the shattered pieces back together.





	nothing more than human

"Stop it." 

Shiro looks up at Keith from where he's sitting under a tree with odd, white foliage, his eyes wide, like he's been caught red-handed. He doesn't say anything in return, just clenches his fist gently and goes back to staring at it. 

He'd wandered off after the team's daily update meeting, mumbling about getting some air. Keith had trailed behind him, knowing the kind of headspace he's been in after waking up from being restored to his body only a few days ago. He'd been solemn and quiet when nobody was looking, but hid it with easy smiles and false bravado when somebody was. Keith had noticed, of course.

They haven't really talked about anything. Shiro hadn't wanted to, and Keith had respected his wishes and backed off, but he also knew he couldn't leave Shiro alone with his thoughts forever. Not when he knew how ugly those thoughts could be, since he was having the same ones. And not when he knew he could do something about them.

Keith looks at him again. Shiro's barefoot, dressed in black sweats and a grey loose t-shirt. It's warm enough on this planet that they can get away with dressing lightly. 

His right shirt sleeve is tied around where his galra arm used to be. The purple, electric light from when the arm had transformed and taken over the upper part of Shiro's arm flashes behind Keith's eyes for a second, and he frowns and shakes the memory away. 

They don't have the equipment or the facilities to get the rest of the arm off him, so Shiro's taken to hiding it so he doesn't have to look at it. 

Keith doesn't care. Under the light of several alien moons, framed by the lilting branches of the white tree, he's beautiful. Even with all his scars, the dark smudges under his eyes, even with the memory of everything weighing his wide shoulders down, he's still the most beautiful thing Keith's ever seen. And he's hurting and Keith doesn't know what to say to make it right, but he has to try.

He starts towards Shiro, the strange red grass under his feet sentiently curling away as he treads on it. The grey, twisted trunk of the tree is wide enough that he can lean his back on it as he gingerly sinks down next to Shiro, his knees up, their shoulders touching.

He breathes for a moment. 

"Sorry.. I'm— I just don't want you to think anymore about what—"

"I know," Shiro looks sideways at him, a sheepish smirk on his lips. There seems to be a million things he wants to say, one of them definitely a bad self-deprecating joke, but he looks like he doesn't know where to start.

"I don't care, Shiro. It doesn't matter that he hurt me. We're here now and we— I got you back." He says softly. He leaves the 'it was all worth it' unsaid. He has a feeling Shiro would disagree.

Shiro's shoulders hunch further, hand coming up to cover his eyes, and his breath hitches. Keith can feel the distress coming off him in waves and he reacts automatically, shifting closer and placing a hand between his shoulders.

"Shiro..." 

"I- I remember everything, Keith. It's too much- I can't—" He pauses and inhales sharply. "I can't separate his memories and feelings from mine. I remember... his panic, his anger, his confusion. I remember how he was fighting Haggar's control the whole time... so I can't even hate him for what he did. 

"And I-" He turns away and lets out an anguished noise. "I remember your face when I- when he said those awful things to you. I remember the feeling of your— your bones cracking under my fist— I remember burning you— and now I have his body and it's unbearable- I can't—" His breathing stutters as he speaks. 

Keith comes closer and reaches out to turn Shiro's face towards him. 

"Shiro, please.. this isn't your fault."

Shiro's hand drops to his lap and his face is flushed, eyes wet with tears. Something tightens in Keith's throat, twists under his ribs, and his eyes get blurry with tears too. 

"I know!" His voice rises, not in anger, but in distress. "I know it wasn't me. But... it was _my_ hands that did it." He lets out a sob. "I'm so sorry. I am so, so sorry."

Keith can almost feel his heart break. He doesn't know what to say. What can he say? There's no possible combination of words in any known language in the universe that could convey the depth of everything he feels for this man. How he feels about how Shiro was taken from him for years, how he feels about how he somehow didn't notice that he wasn't really there, how he wasn't himself. How he feels that he couldn't protect Shiro, that no matter how many times he saves him, he can't save him from this now.

The wreckage of their lives is floating around somewhere far above them, in the void of space, and there's nothing they can do to put all the shattered pieces back together. 

All he can do is be here, with Shiro, in the middle of nowhere, and stay with him.

He frames Shiro's face with his hands, wiping his tears away with his thumbs as he whispers to him: "We're gonna be okay."

Keith shifts up to Shiro's lap and Shiro instinctively moves his hand to the small of his back to support him. He moves his hands to the back of Shiro's head, threading his fingers through his now white hair and he touches his lips to Shiro's forehead, moves to his temple, his cheek, his lips. Undemanding, gentle touches.. to comfort, to heal. To tell him again, with every kiss: I'm here. You're my family. You're everything to me. I love you. 

When Keith pulls back, Shiro, despite everything, is smiling softly through tears. His face shifts again when he brings his fingers up to Keith's new scar, but he inhales, shaky and slow, then pulls Keith to his chest. 

Keith loops his arms around Shiro's waist and presses his cheek against his collarbone, feeling Shiro's calmer breath move his head up and down.

"Keith," Shiro's deep voice rumbles under his ear. "I love you too."

It's not an earth-shattering revelation. He knows this, has known this for a long time. Either way, Keith feels his face heat, his heart full, and still a bit embarrassed by the raw memory of his desperate confession, but he quickly pushes that aside.

He meant every word. He always will.

**Author's Note:**

> Whoa, she can still write! Amazing. If anyone was gonna bring me out of a year long dry spell, it had to be these two. (Nobody can bring me out of emdash and comma hell though, unfortunately.)
> 
> Anyway, thank you so much for reading!!! [Here's the fic on tumblr](https://glossolala.tumblr.com/post/175463388892/nothing-more-than-human).  
> Knowing how I feel about Sheith, more fic will probably appear in the future.


End file.
